Concept  Proposal  Benefits

Improving the Hunt Club Mall on McCarthy Rd.
- submitted by Peter Vasdi Apr 2006

Concept

I live in the Hunt Club area of Ottawa, and the Hunt Club Mall is the center of that community. I've been here for some 20 years and every time I pass by the Mall or park there I notice that the NE corner of the parking lot is almost always totally empty. It seems like a lot of wasted space, and yet very useful space.

Proposal

What would be most useful to our community could also be of benefit to the owners of the Hunt Club Mall may be to use this space to build a small unit of 2-3 stores right at that corner of the parking lot. A coffee house would be ideal, plus a variety store maybe, or a boutique.

Benefits

The benefits to all of us would be:

• The stores would bring more life into the McCarthy Rd. Paul Anka intersection. Finally give our community a place to gather. A reason for going for a walk after supper.
• The bus stops right there, meaning that the stores would have a captive (and pedestrian) audience.
• The Hunt Club Community Centre is right across the street, providing the stores with yet more clients.
• The parking would be open and available right behind the new stores.
• The wasted space would generate revenue.
• Stores like the ones I'm envisaging (coffee house) would bring more adults into the area later at night, therefore, increasing the vigilance and decreasing security problems. Being right at the corner or the intersection (with a little bit of attractive frontage) means that people would not need to cross over to the mall itself (should such stores be situated in the existing mall). In fact, Starbucks (and perhaps 2nd Cup) is looking for new locations in the south end of Ottawa. There are already some nice sized trees there that could provide attractive cafe-style entry to the stores.